The Year of the Rabbit

HK4TUC | The Year of the Rabbit

Last September I had just finished my second running of the Barkley Fall Classic. It was late into the evening, it was dark, I was tired, I was hungry, and all sorts of muscles were aching from the huge effort I had just put in to run a "mere 50 km". I started my travels home by driving out of the park and back into town where my phone caught back up to civilization with the familiar binging noises signaling that I was back into cell service. When I stopped for food and fuel, I checked my emails and noticed I had one unexpected one message sitting there at the top of my inbox that had just come in. I recognized the name but did not really comprehend why I was getting an email. 

As I read through and realized I had just gotten my acceptance invitation into a very small and lustrous event that is put on every year in Hong Kong around the Chinese New Year. I had been chosen to come and take on the challenge of the Four Trails. As I sat there in my car starring at my phone, and not pumping my fuel, at the service station, I pondered when exactly I had submitted my intentions to run and submit my application as it had been so long ago. In fact, I had forgot I was even in a lottery/application pool for the Hong Kong Four Trails at all. I forgot all about HK4TUC until that moment. The stoke now overtook all the pain and aches in my legs that were still quite beat up from Frozen Head State Park terrain.

Acceptance email from Andre Blumberg (HK4TUC Event creator/director)

Needless to say, as I put my mind around this email from Andre Blumberg I started to get very excited and realized that this was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity. Ever since September I have done something I rarely have done in my ultrarunning career. I setup myself an actual training block per say and have been building up towards this event with full intentions. I am travelling halfway around the world to explore a new place and take on this immense challenge. I want to give it my all.

The Challenge

Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge (HK4TUC) is a low-key, personal challenge in which participants must run or hike all four Hong Kong long distance trails non-stop, on their own and self-supported. HK4TUC is not a race, there is no course marking and no aid stations. No entry fees. No prizes.

The total distance is 298 km (186 Mi) and approximately 14,500 metres (46,000 ft+) of positive elevation gain. The sequence is Maclehose trail (100 km), Wilson trail (78 km), Hong Kong trail (50 km) and Lantau trail (70 km). Participants cover the trails in reverse direction, from trail end to trail head. The event starts in Tuen Muen and finishes at the green postbox at the Mui Wo ferry terminal on Lantau island.

Participants can have crew support between each of the four trails but not whilst they are on the trails. Here no pacers or outside companions of any kind are permitted. Participants can take rest breaks at their own discretion during the challenge, but the clock does not pause, and the total time also includes the transition time required between the trails. The use of trekking poles and music or sound playing devices is not permitted. Painkillers and anti-inflammatory and performance enhancing drugs are banned.

Anyone who complies with all HK4TUC rules and completes the full distance in under 60 hours is deemed a Finisher. Those who complete in under 72 hours are deemed a Survivor. There are several intermediate time cutoffs. Those who fail to comply with the HK4TUC rules or don't meet the cutoff times are deemed as Retired.

How to follow the event:

• hk4tuc.live -- dot-tracking website of all of the race. It will be loaded up with this year's participants soon and will be live at start of the event. THIS IS THE MAIN SITE TO TRACK
• https://www.instagram.com/HK4TUC | @hk4tuc -- Instagram – should be lots of stories, reels, and pictures posted throughout the event
• https://www.facebook.com/HK4TUC/ | Facebook

Other Resources:

• www.fourtrails.com | Four Trails – a new film about the 2021 HK4TUC edition (just released)
• https://youtu.be/E0A_Ol5zmB0 | The Great Race - NHK Japan Documentary about the 2020 HK4TUC edition
• www.breaking60.com | Breaking 60 – an awarding winning film by Robin Lee on the 2017 HK4TUC edition
• YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/HK4TUC - some prior video clips from the race(s)
• Twitter - @HK4TUC

The HK4TUC map explained: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiEMIzvqh8c 

Thank You 

To all my supporters, especially my family, I appreciate you.

@rabbit -- best running apparel out there! I only have rabbit gear as it is comfortable, functional, and stylish. I am proud to represent rabbit ever since 2017. Monica and Jill you have created a great brand and culture. Happy Year of the Rabbit! 

@VictorySportdesign -- #GreatestGearBagEver - the only bags I ever use for all my events. I have everything packed up into my Grizzley backpack and my Kodiak travel bag for this trek.

@AthleticBrewing -- #WithoutCompromise -- great tasting craft NA beer that is refreshing for all sorts of occasions. 

My Crew -- I have lined up an amazing local support crew person. He is very familiar with the event, running in multiple times himself and been a Survivor (x2). I am proud to have Hong Kong local Will Hayward (@drvertigo) to be my crew in this event.

Thank you to my girls. You give me a why in this crazy sport. If I can show you through example what achieving a goal (or not) is like by putting in some hard work then my work as a father role model may just be worth it someday. I really wish you were all with me in Hong Kong but I will be doing this event with all my girls in mind. Katie I love you! Thank you.

My amazing wife & our 5 beautiful daughters.

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I am excited.

I am nervous.

I am ready.

see you soon Hong Kong.

Happy New Year.
2023 Year of the Rabbit.

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A Small Taste of Barkley

Get Off the Couch & Venture Out There

A “Quick” Tennessee trip | Ultramarathon #080

Since I am drive to 99% of my events, I try to follow my own unwritten rule:

BFC invitation 2021-06-05 off the waitlist.

Don’t run a race that takes less time than it does to drive to get there.

For example, I’ve driven to Arkansas, Colorado, and the far Western edge of Texas (Franklin Mountains) to run 100 Mi events before even though these are over 12 hours driving time or more from our current place in Texas. I justify it by the amount of time I will be doing the event itself. However back in the summer months I got myself a nice email that perked my interest one day. I was drawn off the waitlist for The Barkley Fall Classic (BFC as it is known by). Honestly, I had forgotten I put my name on the waitlist earlier in the year and was super excited when reading this note. It didn’t take me long to accept via the UltraSignup page and confirm my entry. 

Obligatory picture at "the Yellow Gate"

Even though the BFC is a 50 km race I was willing to make the 14 hour+ travel to get there without hesitation (once my family gave me their blessing of course). I have had BFC on my bucket list for a long time ever since discovering my journey into ultramarathons and binging on the various Barkley videos out there.

I travelled after a day of work on Thursday to get to Tennessee by driving over night and having minimal sleep in my car during my travels. Friday I arrived in Wartburg and rolled up to Frozen Head State Park in awe. The lush mountain greenery and landscape was a sight to be had as only ever seeing pictures prior. I parked at the Visitor Center/ Park Office and put on my trail shoes to check out the area and shake out my legs from being in the car for what seems like forever at this point. It was very cool to see some of the park trails and then get to go over and bestow my eyes on the Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary, which included the exit of the prison tunnel and the bottom of the infamous Rat Jaw climb.

Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary | Petros, TN.

The first time the race map is revealed is during packet pickup, which was Friday afternoon. Most people are lined up and eager to get a peek at what was about to come the next day. Not knowing Frozen Head State Park (FHSP) and the exact trail layout I was somewhat oblivious to what the map was telling me…but I was about to find out very soon.

My BFC 2021 map prior to opening it u and trying to figure out where I am heading in the morning..

Race Day

• started just before sunrise with 415 other runners all masked up just prior to sunset. Humidity was in the air along with the excitement of the start.

• lots of climbing uphill, some downhill and yet we finished at the same spot we started, but I swear there was twice as much up than down (hmmm, my math doesn’t quite work….kind of like the old folk tale of your grandparents telling you they walked to school & it was uphill both ways).

• no GPS allowed, minimal course marking, but more than enough since we were all provided a map the day before at packet pickup.

• small creek crossing early in the race to ensure no runner had dry feet.

• torrential rain made this event much more challenging, muddy, and overall interesting adventure.

• briars, “rat bites”, poison ivy, chiggers, and many scratches to my shirt and hydration vest.

• fog & rain downpour on top of Frozen Head Mountain by the fire lookout tower was just like in the videos on Barkley, but much cooler atmosphere in person when you can soak in the entire surrounding with fellow ultrarunners.

• Tennessee yellow jackets are big. I got stung once on the back of my right calf after the prior runners ahead of me stirred and angered them where they seemed to be hanging out.

• 50 km out at Frozen Head State Park is hard, no question about it.

• crossed the finish line at 11:30:23 (by far my longest 50 km time)

Thank You & Kudos

• Huge thank you to Gary Cantrell (aka Lazarus Lake, aka Laz) & Steve Durbin for putting on a stellar event. This ultra lived up to the hype and the draw that only BFC type event can create. 

• Thank you as well to Larry Kelley, whom I met out there briefly in sharing some guidance to newcomers (virgins, such as myself) and helped out on course during race day at one of the junctions. 

• Of course, I cannot thank the incredible volunteers who braved the relentless rain and were not even moving to stay warm like the runners. The local high school football team, Coalfield Yellow Jackets, were there running the aid stations after a stellar performance of their own the night before. Thank you to all those local boys for helping every runner in their pursuit of the BFC.

• Jenny El Tee (@luoyunghwa) for some incredible race photos of the participants crossing the creek and again up on top of the Rat Jaw climb. Photos are great and thank you for braving the weather yourself especially with all your photo gear equipment out there in the elements.

Photo Credit: Jenny El Tee | Jennifer Thorsen Photography | @luoyunghwa

Photo Credit: Jenny El Tee | Jennifer Thorsen Photography | @luoyunghwa

BFC

Legend has it The Barkley Fall Classic was created to allow more people to experience Frozen Head State Park and the allure of the now popularized Barkley Marathons by showing them how hard 50 km can be in this area and disincentive people from pursuing signing up for the Big Barkley (as it is referred to), but also to give people a taste of the Barkley allure itself. My opinion now that I have run BFC is that my respect level has gone up drastically for anyone who has ever toed the line at Barkley Marathons. Seeing the area, the topography, and some of the famous features out at Frozen Head State Park in person really put things in perspective that the YouTube videos & the Netflix documentary simply can not. 

Ultimately, I am grateful to go into The Barkley Fall Classic classed as a virgin (first time starter) and managed to come out being labelled as a BFC veteran (50k finisher) now. The Croix de Barque is a very cool finishers medal to have earned and I am proud of this accomplishment.

my 50 km finishers Croix de Barque

This race is hard. The experience was well worth the drive it took me to get there & back.

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Thank you for following along. Next Up:

 Franklin Mountains Trail Run | King of Mtn (Nov-12), 100 km (Nov-13)